Watch or clock movement



1951 F. L. ZIEBART 2,575,437

WATCH OR CLOCK MOVEMENT Filed May 19, 1950 2 SHEETS SHEET 1 F/ G. l.

INVENTOR. FEED/A/A/VO L. 27581487:

vflmn Nov. 20, 1951 F. L. ZIEBART 2,575,437

WATCH OR CLOCK MOVEMENT Filed May 19, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 g: F/G. 7

7 3% X: E 42 g INVENTOR. FEPD/A/A/VD L. 2/55/ 227,

Patented Nov. 20, 1951 WATCH OR CLOCK MOVEMENT Ferdinand Leo Ziebart, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Application May 19, 1950, Serial No. 162,850

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to timepieces, and more particularly to an improved and simplified watch or clock movement.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved movement for a timepiece, said movement being very simple in construction, providing a uniform distribution of wear on the working parts of the movement, and minimizing the possibility of overwinding the spring of the movement.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved watch or clo'ck movement which involves relatively inexpensive parts, which is reliable in operation, which is arranged so that over stressing of the driving spring is substantially avoided, and which provides a very compact assembly.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a front elevational view, partly broken away, of a clock employing the improved movement of the present invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional transverse view taken through the clock of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross sectional detail view taken on line E-6 of Figure 4, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational detail view showing the ratchet means coupling the small driven gear of the improved movement with the hour and minute pointer operating gear trains, as employed in the clock of Figures 1 to 5.

Referring to the drawings, H generally designates a timepiece, illustrated as a clock, the clock being provided with a base l2 and a cylindrical body l3. Secured in the body I3 is the frame It, said frame comprising respective parallel plate elements It; and i5 connected by transverse rod elements ll. Secured to the forward ends of the rod members i l is the face of a clock, shown at !B, the face [8 being peripherally flanged as shown at E9 and a transparent circular window 2%! being secured within the flange, as shown. The back cover of the clock is designated at 2|, said back cover being flanged at 22 and being fastened to the inside surface of the body l3 at the flange 22.

Rotatably mounted in the rear plate member 16 large gear 28. Designated at 29 is a cylindrical sleeve which is rotatably mounted on the sleeve 21, as by means of ball bearings 39. Secured to the forward end of the sleeve 29 is another relatively large gear 3!, said gear 31 however being smaller than the large gear 28. Designated at 32 is a spiral spring whose inner end is secured at 33 to the sleeve member and whose outer end is secured to a stud member 3!! threadedly engaged in the peripheral portion of the large gear 28 and projecting toward the other large gear 3! in the manner shown in Figure 5, the spring 32 being formed with an end loop 35 which receives the inwardly projecting stud member 34.

Designated at 36 is a shaft member which extends parallel to the shaft member 23 and which is rotatably supported in the front and rear plate members l5 and I6. Rotatably mounted on the shaft member 36 is a sleeve 3'5 formed at its end portion with the respective relatively small gears 38 and 39 meshing respectively with the large gears 3i and 28, as shown in Figure 2. Secured on the forward end of the shaft 35 is a small gear 48.

The forward face of the gear 36 is formed with ratchet teeth 4: and rigidly secured on the shaft 36 is a ratchet disc 42 formed with ratchet teeth 33 facing the teeth ii and interengageable therewith. Designated at i l is a coil spring surrounding the portion of shaft 3'5 located forwardly of the ratchet disc 42 and bearing between said disc and with the plate member i5, as shown in Figure 6. From Figure 2 it will be seen that the spring 44 biases the ratchet disc t2 into engagement with the ratchet teeth and hence couples shaft 36 to sleeve 31. Gear therefore may drive shaft 36 clockwise, as viewed in Figure 4, but may be rotated freely counter-clockwise with respect to said shaft 36.

Secured to the plate member 15 is a bearing element 45 rotatably supporting a shaft having rigidly secured thereon the respective gears ll and G8, the gear 4'! being relatively large and the gear 43 being relatively small, and the gear l! meshing with the gear as shown in Figure Rotatably mounted on the forward end portion of the reduced shaft section 25 is a sleeve [39 to which is secured the minute hand 58. Secured to The shaft .36 extends rearwardly through the cover plate 2i and carries a knurled knob 55. Knurled knob 55 enables the shaft 35 to be rotated counter-clockwise, as viewed in Figure 4,

enabling the hour and minute pointers 53 and 50 to be manually set.

In operation, the shaft 23 is rotated by means of a handle 25 in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 3, causing the gear 28 to rotate counter-clockwise and causing the sleeve 31 to be rotated clockwise, as viewed in Figure 3, by the meshing engagement of gear 39 with gear 28. Gear 38 rotates gear 3| in the same direction as gear 28 but at a greater speed because of the smaller gear ratio between gears 3i and 32 as compared with the gear ratio between gear 28 and gear 39. I Therefore sleeve 29 rotates faster than gear 28, although it rotates in the same direction as said gear, causing the spiral spring 32 to be wound up. The winding of spring 32, however, occurs in relatively small increments, and therefore' the danger of over-winding said spring is minimized. As shaft 23 is being rotated by handle 25 to wind up thespring, gear 38 is allowed to rotate freely with respect to shaft 36 because of the yieldable engagement of ratchet disc 2 with the ratchet'teeth Al on the gear 38. After the spring is wound, the spring exerts a torque which tends to restore the gears'3l and 28 to their initial relative angular positions and this torque is transmitted by means of the gear 38 and its ratchet teeth 4! to the ratchet disc 42 and thence to the shaft 35, causing the gear 40 to drive the respective gear trains connected to the hour and minute pointers 53 and 50 around the clocks dial face 18. Said gear trains are arranged so that the minute pointer 59 moves twelve times as fast as the hourpointer 53 to provide the proper ratio of movement between the minute and hour hands of the clock.

The inertia and frictional losses of the clock above described in themselves will provide a regulating means causing thespring 32 to unwind at a substantially constant rate and eliminating the necessity of employing a conventional flywheel and hair spring to regulate. the rate of rotation of the small driving gear 49. However, if very high accuracy is desired a conventional escapement mechanism including aflywheel and hair spring, as employed in ordinary timepieces, may be coupled to the shafts 36 in any suitable manner to provideabsolute regulation of the rate of unwinding of the spring 32.

By employing the arrangement above described, the wear on the various moving parts of the movements is substantially equalized and excessiveswinding of thespring 32 is avoided. It will also. be apparent that the cost of manufacturing a practical timepiece, as above described,

that various modificationswithin the spiritzof 75- 598,589

4 the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a timepiece, a frame, a wind-shaft journaled in the frame, a first gear fixedly circumposedon .the wind shaft,. av sleeve.rotatably arranged on the wind shaft and having one end spaced from the first gear, a second gear of a different size from the first gear concentrically arranged on the shaft and fixed to the sleeve, a spiral spring mounted on the sleeve and connected adjacent its outer end to the first gear, a shaft rotatably mounted on the frame parallel to and spaced from the wind shaft, a sleeve member rotatably disposed on the shaft, respective relatively small gears rigidly circumposed on the sleeve member meshing respectively with the first and second gears, whereby rotation of the Wind shaft-causes the first gear to rotate and causes the second gear to rotate in the same direction but at a different rate to wind thespring, a third gear fixed on the shaft, interengageable ratchet elements carried by the shaft and one'of said relatively small gears for rotatively connecting the sleeve to the shaft, an hourv pointer and a minute pointer rotatablymounted on said frame for rotation around an axis aligned with the axis of rotation of the wind shaft, and respective gear trains having different, speed ratios carried by the frame and coupling saidthird gear. to the hour pointer and the minute pointer.

2. In a timepiece, a frame, a wind shaft journaled in the frame, a first gear fixedly circumposed on the wind shaft, a sleeve rotatably arranged on the wind shaft and having one end spaced from the first gear, bearing means mounting said sleeve on the wind shaft, a second gear of a different size from the first gear concentrically arranged on the wind shaft and fixed to the sleeve, a spiral spring fixedly mounted on the sleeve and connected adjacent its outer end i to the first gear, a shaft rotatably mounted on the frame parallelto and spaced from the wind shaft, a sleeve member rotatably mounted on the shaft, respective relatively small gears rigidly circumposed on the sleeve member meshing respectively with the first and second gears, wherei by rotation of the wind shaft causes the first gear to rotate and causes' the secondgear to rotate in thesame direction butat a difierent rate to wind the spring,- a third. gear fixed on theshaft, interengageable ratchet elements carried by the shaft and one of said small gears for rotatably connecting the sleeve to the shaft, spring means biasing said ratchet elements into engagement with each other, an hour pointer and a minute pointer rotatively mounted on said frame for rotation around an axis in aligmnent with the axis of the wind shaft, and respective gear trains having different speed ratios carried by the frame and coupling said third gear tothe hour pointer and the minute pointer.

V FERDINAND LEO ZIEBART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of thispatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 461,993 Wortmann Oct, 2'7, 1891 Wortmann Feb; '8, 1898 

